quarter meaning
“Quarter” usually means “one of four equal parts,” but it has several common uses in everyday English.
Main meanings of “quarter”
- A fourth part of something: a quarter of a cake, a quarter of the class.
- A period of three months in a year, especially in business and bills (Q1, Q2, etc.).
- A coin worth 25 cents in the US (one quarter of a dollar).
- A fraction in math: 14\tfrac{1}{4}41 of a whole.
- A part of a town or city , like “the old quarter” or “student quarter.”
Simple examples
- “Cut the pizza into quarters” → 4 equal slices.
- “Profits fell in the second quarter of 2025” → the 3‑month period April–June (if using calendar quarters).
- “I need a quarter for the vending machine” → 25‑cent coin.
Mini table of core uses
| Use | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Fraction | One of four equal parts (1/4) | “A quarter of the cake is left.” | [5][1][3]
| Time period | Three months of a year | “Sales rose in the first quarter.” | [10][7][8][5]
| Money | U.S. coin worth 25 cents | “I have two quarters in my pocket.” | [2][5]
| Place | District or part of a town | “They live in the historic quarter.” | [9][7][1]
Quick storytelling-style illustration
Imagine you’re in a café at the end of the first quarter of the year, looking over your company’s quarterly results while eating a pie cut into quarters and paying with a quarter coin. In that tiny scene, the same word quietly covers time, math, money, and everyday life all at once.
TL;DR: “Quarter” almost always means “one fourth,” but depending on context it can be a fraction, a 3‑month period, a coin, or a part of a place.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.